The second event of the 2016-17 PGA Tour season will take place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, which will set the tone early for a handful of the tour’s best golfers. Who will emerge victorious from this coveted tournament from Southeast Asia? Let’s find out below.
From the seven-man panel of the PGA Tour’s official site, Ryan Moore and Hideki Matsuyama are the two golfers that got the most nods as favorites to win in Kuala Lumpur.
Moore’s no stranger to when it comes to winning in Malaysia. He’s a two-time winner of the CIMB Classic, and has yet to finish outside of the top 10 in three career starts in the tournament. Furthermore, the 33-year-old is fresh off a sizzling end to his 2015-16 campaign, finishing as the runner-up in the Tour Championship as well as having a solid outing at the Ryder Cup. As such, it’s no wonder then why Moore is a +1,400 favorite to win his third CIMB Classic title in four years.
Meanwhile, Matsuyama (+1,200) has built a strong case himself to win yet another tournament in Asia. The Japanese upstart kicked off the new season with a win on his home country at the Japan Golf Open last week, and his fifth-place finish last year in Kuala Lumpur is his best finish of the tournament to date after reaching the top 25 in the two prior installments.
CBS Sports
Expert
Pick
Kyle Porter
Justin Thomas
Robby Kalland
Ryan Moore
Like a good number of experts around the web, Robby Kalland of CBS Sports went with Moore as his pick to win in Malaysia this year. However, Kalland’s colleague, Kyle Porter, went in another direction by siding with the reigning CIMB Classic champion in Justin Thomas, who’s currently priced at +1,800 to repeat as the tournament’s winner.
Although Thomas’ overall consistency (or lack thereof) raises some red flags, he’s certainly producing well in these Ber months. The Kentucky native has posted back-to-back top-10 finishes from the Tour Championship up to last week’s Safeway Open, putting him in good shape to emerge successful in his first-ever title defense. He even led all golfers at last year’s edition of the CIMB Classic in putts per greens-in-regulation, so having terrific command of the course will be imperative for him to succeed once more in Kuala Lumpur.
SportingLife.com
Kevin Na
Kevin Chappell
Over at Sporting Life, David John went out on a limb by banking on two Kevins that could easily be overlooked this week: Kevin Na (+2,000) and Kevin Chappell (+2,800).
John was high on Na given how the half-Korean has podium finishes in his two appearances in Kuala Lumpur (T3 in 2015 and T2 in 2014). Apart from that, the 33-year-old veteran is also known to have scorching starts in recent PGA Tour seasons. He kicked-off his 2016-17 campaign with a T7 finish at the Safeway Open this past week, and he also had three-straight top-three finishes to begin his 2015-16 season.
Meanwhile, Chappell was one of only two golfers along with Ryan Moore to nearly upset Rory McIlroy in the playoffs of the Tour Championship last month. And while the UCLA product’s best finish in Kuala Lumpur is only having been tied for 13th place back in 2014, it’s worth noting that all five of the CIMB Classic’s past winners have all been Americans. Chappell is bound to win his first PGA Tour event at some point, at that time could very well be this week in Malaysia.
